Understanding Movement during COVID-19

Out-of-Home Exposure Dashboard

These are unprecedented times impacting all media. The Out-of-Home (OOH) industry is seeing changes in movement patterns as individuals in non-essential industries are encouraged to stay home to prevent the continued spread of COVID-19. Although analyzing nationwide patterns is interesting, there is actionable value in zooming into the DMA level to understand the impact of the virus and recovery of each separate region – and we are already seeing some markets beginning to stabilize.

Ubimo has launched an initiative to proactively monitor changes in movement around Out-of-Home properties nationwide at a DMA level via an interactive dashboard. This analysis will allow us to understand COVID-19’s impact in the past months and current state, as well as help to monitor the recovery as it gradually happens.

This analysis will allow us to understand COVID-19’s impact in the past months and current state, as well as help to monitor the recovery as it gradually happens.

Dashboard Uses

Ubimo’s COVID-19 dashboard allows you to choose the DMAs you are interested in seeing via the dropdown menu. It is important to note that while general movement is down, consumers are still out and making more strategic trips to grocery stores, pharmacies, and services.

It is important to note that while general movement is down, consumers are still out and making more strategic trips to grocery stores, pharmacies, and services.

Brands and advertisers can connect with customers on a local level to provide relevant messaging, reaffirming a brand’s commitment to the consumer and informing of products or offerings that could be of use during this time.

As we move through the current situation, recovery will happen at a staggered pace depending on factors in each DMA. This dashboard will help to create an infrastructure for recovery by identifying real-time areas of opportunity as they resume regular operations and behavior patterns. Executing local OOH strategies as movement returns will prove crucial to recovery.

Methodology

To conduct this analysis, Ubimo is analyzing movement in an 0.05 miles around 340,000+ OOH properties nationwide. Then weekly lift is calculated by taking the percent change in visitors observed compared to the baseline where baseline is calculated based on average visitors observed by DMA between the weeks of 12/30/19 and 2/17/20.

To conduct this analysis, Ubimo is analyzing movement in an 0.05 miles around 340,000+ OOH properties nationwide

Using the Dashboard

The first chart on the dashboard is pre-populated with the movement data from the top 10 largest DMAs and national average. By hovering over the date you are interested in, you can see that week’s lift by DMA compared to the baseline. To see the trends for different DMAs, use the “Filter by DMA” dropdown to select one or multiple DMAs you are interested in.

The Week-over-Week Movement Changes view shows the top 5 DMAs with the largest changes in movement compared to the previous week. By using the filter, the viewer can select the week they are interested in seeing. This data will be helpful as DMAs close down or open back up at a staggered pace.

The final table includes the lifts shown in the first chart. Using the table, viewers can easily select the DMAs they are interested in and see the lift for all of the past weeks.